Marinara with Italian Herb Seasoning

Hello Hobby Hill Farm Fans! My name is Trish and I am The Mystic Blue Spice Company. The Mystic Blue Spice Company is a family owned and operated (I mean me) All Natural Spice and Seasoning company out of Arizona. Some of you may have seen my company name floating around face book and stalking your favorite foodie pages. I sort of came onto the scene like an atomic bomb with the dream of making The Mystic Blue Spice Company a household name. So, needless to say, when Sharon from Hobby Hill Farms asked me to be part of her butter and pasta making classes….. I was totally honored! Then, she asked if I would like to guest blog, I jumped at the chance!

Something you may not know about me is…..I do love a good giveaway and I am quickly earning my nickname as the “Giveaway Queen”. I am also very passionate about what Hobby Hill Farm is about, that is why this Giveaway is going to be THE best yet! I’ll let Hobby Hill Farms fill you in on the details. Today is for talking about a glorious homemade dinner.

Today is for talking about an Italian Dinner. We are talkin’ Homemade Marinara Sauce served with Homemade Garlic Herb Pasta and Garlic Bread. Oh, you heard me……I said Garlic. Twice.

I have a phrase that I use from time to time; “Make it All Natural, Make It Mystic” and we are making this a Mystic Dinner 3 ways, by using spice blends from The Mystic Blue Spice Company……Pssst, That’s me.

1. Italian Herb Seasoning in the Marinara

2. Garlic Herb Seasoning in the Pasta

3. Garlic Bread Seasoning in the butter for our Garlic Bread

Let’s start with our Marinara, it’s super easy…I promise & while it is on the stove you can prepare your pasta. (Recipe for Marinara is shown below.) Serve Hot over your favorite pasta! This is such a great, easy, flavorful sauce that you’ll find yourself making it all the time and before you know it…..store bought sauce is a thing of the past and you’ll find yourself saying “bye-bye” to store bought preservatives.

Now, when it comes to homemade pasta… every cook has their own way of doing things.

You can search the web and find recipes for days on how to make homemade pasta. This is just one way to make pasta in your own kitchen and there is one thing I know for certain….you can and should make things easier on yourself. I also know many Italian Nana’s will tell you that you should roll out your dough with a rolling pin. That being said, I use a hand crank pasta machine that mounts to the end of my counter and if you are fancy enough to own a Kitchenaid pasta attachment bust it out! Modern day does have some advantages :0)

Ingredients

2 Cups All Purpose Flour

5 TBS Mystic Blue Garlic Herb Seasonings

¼ Tsp Salt

3 Eggs

1TBS Milk

1 Tsp Olive Oil

1.Combine 2 cups all-purpose flour, 5 TBS Mystic Blue Garlic Herb Seasonings and 1/4 Tsp salt on pastry board, cutting board, or countertop; make well in center. Whisk 3 eggs, 1 TBS milk, and 1 Tsp olive oil in small bowl until well blended; gradually pour into the well of the flour mixture while mixing with fork or fingertips (from the inside of the well out) to form ball of dough.

2.Place dough on a lightly floured surface; flatten slightly. To knead dough, fold dough in half toward you and press dough away from you with heels of hands. Give dough a quarter turn and continue folding, pushing, and turning. Continue kneading dough for 5 minutes or until smooth and elastic, adding more flour to prevent sticking if necessary. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and cover with a towel; let stand 15 minutes.

3.Unwrap dough and knead briefly (as described in step 2) on lightly floured surface. Using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll out dough to 1/8-inch-thick circle. Gently pick up the dough circle with both hands. Hold it up to the light to check for places where dough is too thick. Return to board; even out any thick spots. Let rest until dough is slightly dry but can be handled without breaking.

4. Lightly flour dough circle; roll the dough loosely around the rolling pin.

5. Gently slide the rolling pin out; press dough roll down gently with your hands and cut into strips of desired width with sharp knife. Carefully unfold strips.

To cook pasta for immediate use, bring a large pot of salted water to boil and cook fresh pastas 3-4 minutes or just until al dente. Drain will and dress with Marinara sauce. To store pasta for a later date, hang strips over pasta rack or clean broom handle covered with plastic wrap and propped between two chairs. Dry at least 3 hours; store in airtight container at room temperature up to 4 days.

You still with me?

I hope so because the best is about to come…..Garlic Butter for our Garlic Bread. I get so super excited about Homemade butter, if this is your first go around with Homemade butter……get ready for a great love affair!

Sharon is teaching you all how to make butter so we can move on to the yumtastic part!

Ingredients

1 Loaf of French Bread (sliced vertically)

¼ Cup Butter (Room Temperature)

1 TBS Mystic Blue Garlic Bread Seasoning

1 TBS Olive Oil

Directions

Preheat oven to 350*. In a medium bowl mix Butter and Olive Oil together, then mix in 1 TBS Mystic Blue Garlic Bread seasoning. Slice your bread and place on the baking sheet cut side up. Slather both slices of bread with your Garlic Bread Butter and back in the oven for 8-10 minutes or until it reaches your desired crispiness.

This dinner is a great way to get the family involved, let the little ones measure, stir, kneed, mix and you can enjoy the wonders of teaching a younger generation how to make an All Natural “back to basics” meal.

Thank you everyone for spending time with me today, I hope to see you soon. You can find me on Facebook as The Mystic Blue Spice Co. and at www.mysticbluespice.com

Spice On Folks….There’s Nothing But Flavor In Here!

Who wants to win a Black Box Collection of Garlic Bread, Garlic Herb, Italian Herb and my new Hot-Sweet Itailan Sausage seasoning? Hold on tight because here is how you can do it! (Available to residents in the USA – only valid for those who have not won within the last 30 days.)

1. Like Hobby Hill Farm on Facebook – Post a comment here on this POST stating that you “love” us

2. Like Mystic Blue Spice Company on Facebook – Post a comment here on this POST stating that you “liked” Mystic Blue Spice Company

3. Want to earn extra entries? “Tweet” Hobby Hill Farm on Twitter @Hobbyhillfarm – Post the comment here on this POST

4. Follow our blog in the RSS Feeds to add another chance – Post your comment here on this POST

5. Post a comment here on this POST about how much “Garlic” is too much Garlic? Hint – You can never have enough!

Good luck! – Hobby Hill Farm will pick a winner on Saturday evening at 11:00PM EST and announce via our blog and on facebook.